French jobless rate dips below 9 percent for first time in eight years

The French unemployment rate has seen the steepest fall since the financial crisis began, dropping to 8.9 percent in the last quarter of 2017, down from 9.6 percent in the third quarter, the first time it has been recorded at below 9 percent since 2008, according to official figures from the INSEE national statistics office.

France’s unemployment rate dropped below 9% for the first time since 2009, adding weight to efforts by President Emmanuel Macron to liberalise a rigid labour market that remains hamstrung by a skills mismatch, reports The Gulf Times.